Missandei: A former slave girl rescued by Daenerys, she’s now the queen’s handmaiden and translator. And closest friend.

Grey Worm: The leader of Daenerys’ Unsullied army, he’s developing romantic feelings for Missandei. This is complicated, because he’s also a eunuch.

Hizdahr zo Loraq: A former slave master of Meereen, he convinces Daenerys to take him as her husband to bring peace to the city.

Ser Barristan Selmy: A former Kingsguard who left Westeros to go fight for Daenerys.

The Waif: An older trainee with the Faceless Men, she despises Arya and tries to make her life miserable.

Olly: A kid who parents were killed by the wildlings, Olly is now Jon Snow’s loyal fan, but he’s not happy to see Jon side with the wildlings.

GoT CHEAT WATCH GUIDEThe writers this season are going where even George RR Martin refused to tread, leading to perhaps the most controversial episodes in Game of Thrones so far.

Watch

Episode 1: Only the first five minutes, where, in a flashback, a witch makes Cersei a chilling prophecy, one that will fuel fan theories for all the upcoming seasons. She tells Cersei that she’ll marry a king and she’ll be the queen… for a while, before another one rises, younger and more beautiful. And that all her children will die before her: “Gold will be their crowns, and gold their shrouds”. Brrr.

Episode 4: Again, skip watch, because important events are set in motion. Cersei evokes a fanatical religious order called the Faith Militant, whom she empowers to arrest those that have done wrong, starting with Margaery’s brother Loras. In Winterfell, Littlefinger plans Sansa’s marriage to Ramsay Bolton. We’re all screaming.

Jorah Mormont runs into Tyrion in Essos, and captures him as a gift to Daenerys in the hopes of forgiveness. In Meereen, a terrorist outfit called Sons of the Harpy attack Dany’s men, critically wounding Grey Worm and killing Barristan Selmy.

Episode 8: You’ll want to watch this entire episode, sometimes from between your fingers. Cersei’s plans backfire spectacularly, when the High Sparrow arrests her for adultery.

Theon confesses to Sansa that he never killed Bran and Rickon. Ramsay suggests a sneak attack on Stannis’ army. Dany takes on Tyrion as advisor and exiles poor Jorah again. And in the most exciting 15 minutes of Game of Thrones ever, Jon Snow goes over the Wall to convince the wildlings to come south. But just as he brokers a deal, the White Walkers attack, their army of undead swarming over the cliffs, pouring through the snow and murdering everyone in sight.

Jon and Tormund escape by the skin of their teeth, but now know the full extent of the horror that awaits.

Episode 9: This is perhaps the hardest episode to watch in all five seasons of Game of Thrones. Stannis is close to defeat after Ramsay Bolton’s attack, and Melisandre convinces him he needs one last sacrifice to make things work—his own daughter. It’s horrifying watching sweet, gentle Shireen screaming at the stake.

Meanwhile, Dany faces an assassination attempt at the fighting pits, before Drogon swoops down and rescues her, carrying her away to the Dothraki plains.

Episode 10: What a conclusion! After Shireen’s death, Stannis’ men abandon him, his wife hangs herself, and finally, in defeat, he’s found by Brienne, who, as revenge for Renly Baratheon’s death, cuts his head off. Cersei confesses to adultery with Lancel, and is made to walk through the streets of King’s Landing completely naked.

When she finally makes it home, she finds a new guard waiting for her, a zombie Mountain. In Essos, Arya kills a former enemy without permission, and in return, she is blinded by H’ghar. Daenerys finds herself taken prisoner by the Dothraki but drops her ring in the grass so someone can find her. Jaime escorts Myrcella home, but she dies on the journey, poisoned by Ellaria Sand. And at the Wall, Jon faces a mutiny led by Alliser Thorne and Olly, and is stabbed to death in the snow.

Skip

Episode 2 and 3: Skip entirely, unless you want to see a very wrinkly and naked High Septon being forced to walk naked through town as a punishment for sleeping with prostitutes.

Episode 5: Again, one to skip totally. Only thing you need to know is that Brienne and Podrick have followed Sansa to Winterfell, should she ever need help, and Tyrion and Jorah Mormont are attacked by stone men on their way to Dany’s, where Jorah contracts greyscale, a disease that will eventually turn him to stone. He’s doomed.

Episode 6: Don’t watch this episode on principle. Sansa is married to Ramsay Bolton, who we already know is the devil. But the writers throw in a gratuitous rape scene, showing Sansa violated by Ramsay, while Theon is forced to watch. No such thing happens in the book, and the writers’ casual use of violence against women for a useless plot point is honestly repugnant.

Episode 7: Skip, unless you miss Tyrion’s wisecracking.

GoT Season 5: NOTABLE DEATHSIt feels like half the cast kicked the bucket this season

Mance Rayder: The King Beyond The Wall was burnt alive by Stannis, before Jon mercifully dispatched him with an arrow.

Janos Slynt: Jon Snow took his head off. We cheered.

Barristan Selmy: The old Kingsguard went down fighting The Sons of the Harpy.

Maester Aemon: Old age caught up with the last Targaryen in Westeros and Jon’s closest ally.

Shireen Baratheon: Burnt at the stake by her own father, Stannis. The worst GoT death yet.

Looking forward to Game of Thrones Season 7? Check into our Game of Thrones series every day this week for a look at all the previous seasons: summaries, best episodes, best deaths (of course) and more.